Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am okay, unless the Minister of State, Deputy McHugh, is due to speak. I will take on board some of the issues raised by Deputy McGuinness although I do take issue with some of the generalised comments on the marine element of my portfolios. The complexity of leasing arrangements in some of our fisheries harbours are not as straightforward as Deputy McGuinness makes out and some of the people who are asking for leases to be signed have issues they need to deal with in respect of those harbours. However, I take the point in general and some of the points are fair.

As a Government and as a country, we have dealt with a number of difficult budgets. The difficult decisions taken during that time have made it possible for Ireland to exit a bailout, reduce debt levels and move towards real recovery. During that time, the agrifood sector has continued to prove its fundamental importance as a cornerstone of the economy and rural life in general. I am pleased to say that the 2016 budget reflects a significant Exchequer recognition of that position and demonstrates a further commitment of support for the agrifood sector as a whole. The Exchequer contribution to the Vote of my Department will amount to €1.351 billion in 2016, which is €1.134 billion in current expenditure and €217 million in capital expenditure. This represents an overall increase of €109 million over this year’s Estimate and takes account of new priorities including, in particular, the rural development programme and the seafood development programme. The agrifood sector continues to play a significant role in our economic recovery, accounting for in excess of 169,000 jobs, and total agrifood exports amount to just under €11.3 billion as of last year, which is an increase of 29% since 2010.

In addition to the Department's Vote, in 2016 Ireland will receive some €1.2 billion in direct funding from the EU for our basic payment scheme. I am pleased to announce that advance payments of 70% will be issued to farmers next week, which is the equivalent of about €750 million. I welcome the taxation measures introduced by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, which demonstrate the Government’s strong commitment to the agrifood sector. Last year we successfully collaborated on an agritaxation review, the most substantial package of its kind ever introduced in a single budget and worth about €300 million to farmers.

Additional measures have been announced in budget 2016, including a major new initiative on family transfer partnerships to assist succession, which I will deal with later, the removal of forestry income from the high earners restriction for active foresters and farmers and, of course, the inclusion of farmers under the self-employed tax credit of €550 announced yesterday.

In order to build on the progress achieved in recent years, the following measures have been prioritised for funding over the coming year. The rural development programme will see an investment of €4 billion in agriculture between the years 2014 to 2020 and is a key support in rural areas.The rural development programme schemes provide vital investment capital in the rural economy, prioritise agri-environmental protection and support the incomes of family farms. Overall, for 2016 I have secured almost €500 million for investment in the rural development programme, which is up from €439 million in 2015 and an increase of over 12.5%.

In terms of the agri-environment scheme, which is the biggest of these schemes, €203 million will be made available for the agri-environmental schemes AEOS, GLAS and Organics. At least 35,000, and up to 40,000, farmers will benefit under the new green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, known to farmers as GLAS, which encourages farmers to farm in an environmentally sustainable manner and pays them for specific actions they will take. Of course, this scheme will ultimately support up to 50,000 farmers and require funding of €250 million per annum in future years. However, we are getting there faster than had been promised and predicted.

I am allocating €195 million to areas of natural constraint, continuing strong support for farmers farming in disadvantaged areas, and this will continue to generate an important multiplier effect in these local economies. I have also allocated funding amounting to almost €36 million to the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS, for 2016. This will provide funding for the young farmer capital investment scheme as well as dairy equipment, organic capital investments, sheep fencing, pig and poultry investments, the animal welfare, safety and nutrient storage scheme and the low emission slurry spreading scheme. All of these are strategic schemes which seek to change and modernise farming through innovation and better ways of doing things.

I am also seeking approval from Cabinet for a scheme to specifically target the tillage sector with support for appropriate investments and I will also reintroduce support for sheep fencing. The beef data and genomics scheme is a big area under the rural development programme. This innovative scheme is now almost fully subscribed with 29,000 applicants and will be further resourced to the tune of €52 million in 2016.

In terms of the marine and seafood area, in anticipation of the approval of the seafood development programme I am providing some €36 million to my Department, the Marine Institute and BIM to fund the roll-out of capital investment schemes. In 2016, this is expected to include the launch of a new capital investment scheme, including supports for the discards ban, aquaculture development, seafood processing, fisheries local action groups, decommissioning of vessels innovation, new product development in the processing sector, stock conservation and sustainability in the inshore fisheries sector and training and advisory services for fishermen and aquaculture enterprises. In addition, significant investments will be made in enhancing control and enforcement of the common fisheries policy.

It is worth noting that the seafood development programme that is going to be rolled out in the next five years is more than twice the size of the value of the fund of any previous seafood development programme introduced in Ireland. I also welcome the publication of the marine taxation review, which recommends potential areas for support through the taxation system and I look forward to further engagement on the specific recommendations. It is hoped that those recommendations will be factored into the finance Bill in the days to come.

Food Wise 2025 emphasises the need to attract new talent to the sector and increase land mobility to ensure the productive use of land. In negotiating the last CAP reform, I was concerned to provide additional support for young trained farmers. These priorities were reflected in the new tax measures last year. We can already see these changes are driving real structural change in Irish agriculture right now. We have more young farmers in agricultural colleges than we have ever had before and we need to ensure they are not disappointed when they go back home to farm with a view to taking ownership and control of the management of their enterprises.

Four existing tax measures on stock relief and stamp duty relief which are vitally important to young farmers and partnerships, in particular, have been renewed for a further three years. These measures are the 25% general stock relief on income tax, the 100% stock relief on income tax for certain young trained farmers, the 50% stock relief on income tax for registered farm partnerships and the stamp duty exemption on transfers of land to young trained farmers. The retention of the valuable 90% agricultural relief on capital acquisitions tax is also essential to facilitate inter-generational farm transfers.

The area that is getting the most headlines today from an agricultural point of view is the new family transfer partnership introduced by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, yesterday. I am particularly pleased with the development. This incentive will encourage important conversations within farm families about succession planning at an earlier stage and will facilitate earlier inter-generational transfer of family farms. There is a significant tax credit of up to €5,000 a year for five years to encourage them in this regard. That is €25,000 to incentivise the orderly and managed transfer of the family farm from one generation to the next, which is what we are trying to achieve.

On environmental sustainability, almost €114 million will be made available under the forestry programme in 2016. The removal of forestry income from the high earners restriction for active foresters and farmersis a significant measure in support of national forestry policy. This is something for which the forestry sector has been campaigning for the last three years and we are delivering more than it was seeking. What was being sought was income averaging over a certain number of years. Instead, we have decided to exempt income in its entirety. That will allow much more efficient and commercial afforestation and clear felling in Ireland, which makes a great deal of sense for a sector that has tight margins and is very competitive.

In terms of research and development, I am fully committed to research and innovation which drive competitiveness, profitability and sustainable economic growth. I am continuing to prioritise innovation by allocating over €31 million for research, development and training to be delivered mainly through the Department’s competitive food institutional research measure, FIRM, stimulus and forestry research funding programmes and Teagasc training.

I am pleased to announce an increase of €6 million in the 2016 allocation for the horse and greyhound racing fund. This is an increase ofalmost 9% and brings the total fund to €74 million. It is almost back to the level it was at during the boom. This is a sector with a turnover of approximately €1.2 billion and which employs approximately 17,000 people; therefore, it will give a great deal more back than we are putting into it. The Government's commitment to the racing and greyhound industries has been extraordinary in recent years, given the financial pressures we have endured. I hope the increase will be welcomed and put to good use.

I continue to be very concerned about farm safety. The number of fatalities in the farming sector is unacceptable. Last year the figures were horrific and many families are still in mourning as a result. This year the numbers are not quite as high, but they are still far too high. We have again prioritised farm safety as a critical component of the TAMS and I have also made it a mandatory requirement for all applicants to have completed a minimum of a half day farm safety course before they can claim grant-in-aid in any of the new schemes we are opening.

Animal welfare is an issue on which I am anxious to have made a definite change by the time I leave office. I feel very strongly about animal welfare. I am, therefore, pleased to be in a position to provide some additional funding in this area. I will increase funding by €600,000 in 2016 to €2.7 million to support animal welfare organisations. Five years ago the figure was a fraction of this. My Department has a responsibility for welfare issues and we are delivering from a funding perspective. I am maintaining the funding of €2.8 million to assist local authorities in reducing instances of horse abandonment and advancing horse projects for urban and Traveller horse owners. We are anxious to build specific horse welfare projects in and around some of our towns and cities and are providing capital funding to do this.

This has been a good budget for farmers, as it should be. Agriculture, farmers and the food industry are the most important parts of Ireland's indigenous economy. They must be supported by the Government and are being supported by it. That will continue.

My other responsibility is the Department of Defence. I am pleased to be able to signal an increase in the defence 2016 allocation to allow the first step towards the implementation of the recently published White Paper on defence and continue the Defence Forces' delivery of operational outputs, both at home and overseas. This is the first increase in the defence budget since 2008. Although some opposition parties would like us to reduce defence expenditure, I do not agree with that position. Our troops, sailors and members of the Air Corps need modern equipment to be safe and do an efficient and safe job, both at home and abroad in their peacekeeping role.

The combined defence 2016 allocation of some €904 million, comprising €224 million for Vote 35 for Army pensions and €680 million for Vote 36, is a significant level of funding and shows an increase of €6 million on the corresponding 2015 allocation. The White Paper on defence sets out the roles the Government has assigned to the Defence Forces and looks at associated capability requirements. It sets out proposals on the replacement of major equipment platforms for the next decade and other priorities for the Army, the Air Corps and the Naval Service. The White Paper has a crucial role to play in determining our financial strategies and spending plans in the next decade. The improving public finances will allow further scope for investment in the replacement of major equipment and ongoing recruitment.

It is in this context that I have made a commitment to maintaining Permanent Defence Force, PDF, numbers at 9,500. The Permanent Defence Force is conducting a very active recruitment campaign to ensure we stay at that number. In parallel with the ongoing recruitment campaign, I am pleased to announce that there have been over 500 promotions across all ranks of the Permanent Defence Force to date in 2015. The White Paper on defence also outlined a range of measures that would be progressed during the next few years to develop further the Reserve Defence Force, RDF, which plays an important strategic role and will do so in the future.

Capital expenditure accounts for a sizeable element of the defence Vote and the increased allocation for defence under the recently announced 2016-21 capital investment programme is highly significant. In total, €437 million is provided for defence capital investment over that period and this allocation will be expended on replacement programmes for defensive equipment across the Army, the Air Corps and the Naval Service, as well as on an infrastructure works programme within barracks. The naval vessel replacement programme has seen the LE James Joyceadded to the Naval Service fleet in 2015, joining the LE Samuel Beckettwhich was delivered in April 2014. A third ship purchased under this programme, the future LE William Butler Yeats, is scheduled for delivery in July 2016. The progressive and prudent approach taken to these purchases is testament to the value for money ethos prevailing within the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces.

The capital funding envelope provides for the development of a key proposal under the White Paper, the new institute for peace support and leadership training, building on the UN Training School in the Curragh. The institute is intended to provide a new international resource in the area of conflict resolution, conflict prevention and peace building. The capital allocation will also provide for the ongoing refurbishment of a diverse defence property portfolio and the provision of replacement or additional facilities, where required. I will provide more details on the peace and leadership institute in the weeks ahead.

I take the opportunity to pay tribute to Defence Forces personnel serving overseas in very important and often challenging situations. Ireland is contributing 494 Defence Forces personnel to 12 overseas missions. This level of overseas deployment reflects Ireland’s ongoing contribution to international peace and security. The numbers will increase. We are committed to providing at least another 170 personnel for UNIFIL next year. In addition, there will possibly be another 175 committed in connection with the German battle group, should it be called upon for a peacekeeping mission somewhere in the world. Our role overseas is one that makes Irish people very proud. It is also really testing for the Defence Forces. It is what they train for and what they do, but it is a significant and sometimes very dangerous job, be it in southern Lebanon, on the Golan Heights, in north Africa, eastern Europe, Afghanistan or in the Mediterranean where our sailors, with the support of some of our soldiers and medical staff, have saved almost 8,000 people during the summer months.

Domestic security remains primarily the role of the Department of Justice and Equality and An Garda Síochána. However, the Defence Forces will continue to provide essential support for the civil power throughout 2016, whenever requested to do so. I take the opportunity to express my deep condolences to An Garda Síochána and the families who are mourning as a result of the tragedies that have occurred in recent days.

Following a Government decision to establish the emergency aeromedical support service on a permanent basis, I am pleased to announce that an additional allocation of €2.2 million was provided in the defence Vote for reimbursement of Air Corps costs incurred in the provision of this service. This is now a permanent service, in partnership with the HSE and the Department of Health.

With the onset of winter, it is important to also highlight the assistance provided by the Defence Forces for the civil authorities. Apart from weather emergency responses, the Defence Forces have the training, equipment, skills and expertise to assist the civil authorities to deal with a range of diverse events, ranging from fire fighting, maritime patrols, air ambulance duties to missing person searches.

I acknowledge the vital contribution Civil Defence volunteers make to the State. The Department of Defence provides support for local Civil Defence units, including central training, as well as supplying vehicles, boats, uniforms and personal protective equipment for volunteers.

The Defence Forces as a whole are opening a new chapter in their development and modernisation and the asks being made of them by the Government, to which they will have to respond. We now have a White Paper that charts a very exciting future in which the Government will give strong support through a clear policy and appropriate levels of funding. The Defence Forces will respond in the way they respond to every challenge - by delivering on the asks made of them by the State. We should be very proud of the work they continue to do.

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